SC to hear PIL on NOTA option in case of lone candidate on March 19
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to take up on March 19 a PIL challenging Section 53(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which provides for direct election of candidates in uncontested elections.
"It is a very pertinent issue, we would like to examine it. List the matter on March 19,” a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said about the petition that said the provision in question prevented voters from choosing the NOTA option in case of a lone candidate.
The Bench asked the Centre to file its response to the petition.
According to Section 53(2) of the RPA, if the number of contesting candidates in an election is equal to the number of seats to be filled, the Returning Officer (RO) is obliged to declare all such candidates to be duly elected to fill those seats.
The petitioner submitted that the provisions prohibited the RO from conducting a poll if the number of contesting candidates was equal or less than the number of seats to be fulfilled, and resulted in deprivation of a voter's fundamental right to choose None of the Above (NOTA) option as an expression of his dissatisfaction with the contesting candidate(s).
